Strategic War in Europe Review

The Not So Good: Too similar to Time
of Fury, basic diplomatic and research options, lacks alternative
scenarios, no multiplayer matchmaking

What say you? A smaller, more easily
controlled version of Time
of Fury fails to bring any other improvements: 5/8

MY POORLY WRITTEN INTRODUCTION

Six months ago, Time
of Fury was released, which sought to provide a comprehensive look at
World War II from a strategy gaming perspective. While the game did streamline
a number of wargame conventions, it was still unwieldy thanks to a large map
and lots of units to control. As if they listened to my feedback, developer
Wastelands Interactive have created Strategic War in Europe, enlarging the map
and subsequently decreasing the unit count by combining the military into corps
and armies. This $15 budget-level release hopes to continue to march towards
accessibility that started with Time
of Fury. Does Strategic War in Europe march on Berlin, or march on
Paris (you can decide which of those options is better)?

GRAPHICS AND SOUND

The simplification of Strategic War in Europe starts with
the graphics: a less flashy 2-D map with 2-D unit counters replace the 3-D
models from before. Honestly, I actually prefer the informative counters in Strategic
War in Europe to the 3-D models in Time
of Fury. In addition, the hand-drawn attack circles and destination
indicators look neat. The World War II unit portraits return, as does the
interface, which provides sortable unit lists and reports that make all of the
game’s information accessible, although not as efficiently as I would like. The
sound design is quite basic, with occasional battle effects and decent music to
accompany your attempts at world domination. Strategic War in Europe doesn’t
provide any groundbreaking innovations in terms of graphics and sound design
(and recycles a significant portion of Time
of Fury), which is what you would expect for $15.

ET AL.

Strategic War in Europe lets you take command of any of the
European (plus the United States) nations during the Second World War (also
known as The
War Between The States). The alliance that earns the most victory
points (earned by holding cities) is declared most awesome. The game comes with
six scenarios, giving you the starting conditions for each year between 1939
and 1944. Games are played with one turn representing one month, so the longest
game lasts a manageable seventy turns, which is a far cry from the 300-turn
behemoths of Time
of Fury). You can choose to control one or multiple countries (even
those from opposing sides) and allow the AI to take the helm of the remainder. Strategic
War in Europe lacks the alternative scenarios provided in the previous title,
which is a bit disappointing. Strategic War in Europe also lacks matchmaking or
centrally hosted multiplayer; I suppose that, with shorter games, the
developers figured players could handle play by e-mail on their own. Still, the
smaller map size (presented at a larger scale), reduced unit count, and shorter
game length makes Strategic War in Europe much more approachable than its predecessor.

Units in Strategic War in Europe consist of corps and armies
(instead of divisions and corps), which is appropriate for the increased scale
of the map. Like before, ground units include infantry, motorized, and armor
types, while fighters, tactical bombers, and strategic bombers take to the air,
and carrier group, battle group, patrol group, and submarine group rule the
seas. Each unit is rated according to strength, a health value that also
determines attack and defense, and the effectiveness, a combination of battle
experience, commander values, and supplies available. A selection of commanders
can be assigned to important units, which generally increases attributes
according to the rating of the commander. Supplies are automatically ferried
from nearby cities to your units, the amount of which is inversely proportional
to the distance from the city. While you don’t have to worry about managing
supplies directly, the system does allow you to control rail lines and cut off
supplies through flank movements.

Each unit has a number of action points (determined from the
type of unit) that it can use to move and attack each turn. In addition to
conventional movement, units can take advantage of strategic rail movement, sea
transport, amphibious invasions, and paradrops. Air units can rebase, scout,
and nuke targets, while naval vessels can raid supply convoys. Units can join
an attack once per turn, adding to the strength of the assault and allowing you
to take down powerful armies by surrounding them and simultaneously attacking
them. The victor of a battle is determined from the unit strengths, terrain,
and weather conditions. This system is intuitive while allowing for large-scale
tactics. I found the AI nations in Strategic War in Europe to be fairly
intelligent (artificially, of course), surrounding and attacking important units
it can beat, avoiding combat when appropriate, moving towards city objectives,
and attempting to keep units in supply. Units will get damaged, so you can spend
production points earned from cities under your control to reinforce existing
units (preserving the experience they have earned) or purchase new units that
can be placed near any city once completed. Existing units can also be upgraded
to a higher experience level or changed to a new type, if they are in friendly
territory and you have the production points to spend.

Diplomacy and research in Strategic War in Europe is very
basic. Diplomatic points can be spent delaying or hastening your country’s
entry into an alliance, triggering an election, or changing political parties.
You can also pressure other nations into a specific alliance, attempt to change
their political affiliation, or declare war. And that’s it: no trade or
dealings other than pure alliance. Research is even more primitive: you invest
money to increase the focus in six areas (infantry, tanks, aircraft,
submarines, navy, and nuclear weapons), allowing for more unit upgrades. Neither
of these areas get much focus during a game of Strategic War in Europe, so most
of your energy will be spend moving units and attacking your foes.

IN CLOSING

Not surprisingly, Strategic War in Europe is very, very
similar to Time
of Fury, except with less units on a larger-scale map. The bigger
unit sizes, represented as corps and armies, do make the game much more
manageable, and Strategic War in Europe is subsequently more approachable and
serves as a good introductory wargame. Units move, attack, and gain experience
over time, increasing their strength as the war progresses. Attacking from
multiple directions on a single unit is the best strategy, surrounding the
enemy as you march towards city objectives that contain the production points
necessary to recruit new units and repair old ones. The diplomacy and research
aspects of the game remain underdeveloped, and things will generally play out
as they did historically. Strategic War in Europe features the same decent
computer opponents as before, who play competently as they attack vulnerable
units and capture important objectives. The simplifications of Strategic War in
Europe have resulted in less scenario diversity, as the historical variations of the past are
mysteriously absent this time around. The longest scenario in Strategic
War in Europe is a fourth of the size of the largest offering in Time
of Fury, allowing you to actually finish a game in a reasonable
amount of time. While I do like Strategic War in Europe more than Time
of Fury because it is more manageable without sacrificing strategy, I
wish innovations were brought to the table along with the reduced size. The
smaller price helps to lessen the sting of Strategic War in Europe essentially
being a direct copy of Time
of Fury with more streamlined features, though. I think that if I was
overwhelmed by Time
of Fury and wanted a quicker, easier experience (as I do), then I
would take a look at Strategic War in Europe and its $15 strategic gameplay.